


Seizing The Moment

by cordeliadelayne



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Kissing, M/M, Sneaky Arthur, Snow, Yule, arthur's a tease
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-07 19:08:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6820531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Yule Festival is a time for reflection, and a time for new opportunities.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seizing The Moment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [beeej](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=beeej).



> Written as a Christmas present for the lovely beeej, who gave the prompt “Yule Festival, snow, and crackling fire”. 
> 
> Originally posted to Livejournal in 2010.

Merlin hurried down the corridor, his arms full of winter cloaks and capes to be distributed to all the ladies arriving that morning for the beginning of the Yule festival. King Uther had decided to continue with the feast that evening despite the fact that many of their guests had had to cancel from sheer inability to reach Camelot. Merlin paused a moment to look out of one of the windows. It was no wonder really, since the world seemed bathed in white. Gaius was adamant that it was going to be the worst winter on record, and Merlin could well believe it.

“Come along, Merlin, don't dawdle,” Gaius fussed from behind him.

“Yes, Gaius, I know,” Merlin replied, rolling his eyes. He was rewarded by a sharp tap on the back of his head.

“And enough of that. The ladies will be needing these to keep warm.”

“Right. And what about me? What am I supposed to wear to keep warm?”

“You'll be running up and down the corridors so much you won't have time to be cold. Now come along, I have to go see the King and Lady Morgana will be wanting her robe.”

Merlin muttered something Gaius thankfully couldn’t catch under his breath and hurried to Morgana's chambers. Why Gwen couldn't have got her cloak out of storage Merlin had no idea but he was too used to being the only one sent on these tasks by now to really think about complaining. Much.

Still muttering to himself he knocked on Morgana's door and peered around it.

“Come in,” Morgana called. She was sitting in front of her mirror, Gwen standing behind her and helping her arrange her hair. Merlin didn't think it looked any different from normal, but he wisely remained silent.

“Winter clothes for you,” Merlin said.

“Just put them over there,” Morgana said, waving vaguely towards her bed. Gwen smiled at Merlin through the mirror's reflection and he smiled back, glad that someone else understood just how much work preparing for the Yule Festival was.

“That's all, thank you, Merlin,” Morgana said and Merlin hurried out before she thought of a task he could be performing; he had enough of his own to be worrying about as it was.

* * * * *

“The thing I don't understand...” Merlin began, before Arthur interrupted him.

“Just the one thing Merlin? You surprise me.”

Merlin pulled a face at Arthur's back. “The thing I don't understand is why we have to go outside at all. We could just stay inside and...eat.”

“Honestly Merlin, I think the only thing you're interested in his food. It is tradition.”

“Right,” Merlin replied, pulling a face that this time Arthur _did_ see.

“What?” Arthur asked, hands on hips.

“It's just...some traditions should be left to die out.” He turned away quickly, in case his feelings were written across his face. He always had a hard time keeping an inexpressive face where Arthur was concerned.

There was an awkward silence while Merlin rearranged some of the papers on Arthur's desk, trying to think of somewhere urgent he needed to be.

“I need to speak to my father,” Arthur said eventually. He paused just before he headed out of the door. “Wrap up warm.”

Merlin looked up but before he could say anything, Arthur was gone.

* * * * *

Snow was still a fairly unusual sight in Camelot, but the bitingly cold wind wasn't, and right now everyone was so wrapped up against the warmth that it was hard to distinguish knight from commoner. Merlin was standing next to Gaius, watching as Morgana, wrapped in a beautiful array of furs, talked to one of the knights, and prepared to officially open the ceremonies. The King was somewhere near there too, and no doubt Arthur would be by his side.

Merlin was definitely feeling the cold when he felt something wet hit his nose. He looked up and saw that the sky was full of snow.

“You have got to be kidding,” he murmured.

Gaius just shook his head. “When I was young I once got stuck in a hut in the mountains for three months. Snow as far as the eye could see. Had to start eating insects, just to survive.”

Merlin frowned and looked over at Gaius; even now he couldn't tell whether he was joking or not.

“Right,” Merlin said. “I'm just going to...” He waved over towards the royal party and Gaius nodded, taking an overflowing mug of mead from a passing servant.

Merlin slinked away into the shadows, smiling at those people he recognised but not staying still long enough to be drawn into conversation. There was something about the Yule Festival that was making Merlin restless, though why that was he didn't know. He just knew that something was missing.

He sighed in frustration, then let out a yelp as he was pulled up against the wall of the castle and found himself having the breath kissed out of him. He flailed for a moment before giving in to it, not having any idea who was kissing him and not caring either.

Merlin cautiously moved up his arms around the person’s neck and grabbed hold of a scarf that the other man was wearing. He vaguely heard noises in the background, as Morgana made her speech and the fire began crackling as the pile of wood in the centre of the courtyard was set alight, but nothing meant anything to him except the feel of the other man's lips against his own.

The stranger pulled away and Merlin opened his mouth to ask him who he was, and why they hadn't been doing that for months, but the man dashed away before Merlin could get a look at his face and all he was left with was the scarf.

* * * * *

Once the King’s speech was finally finished, everyone who wanted to could trudge inside for food, each guest having brought something with them, and then sit by the fire. Or, in Merlin's case, they could automatically go to the sitting morosely by themselves portion of the evening.

His lack of appetite made Gaius raise an eyebrow at him, but he neatly deflected having to actually talk to him by hurrying over in Gwen's direction and then circling round till he was at a more deserted part of the courtyard. He sat down on one of the chairs provided and kept on twisting the scarf through his fingers.

“Merlin!” snapped Arthur and Merlin looked up in surprise. “I've been calling your name for five minutes.”

“Oh. Sorry. Is there something you needed?”

“Yes. My scarf.”

Merlin looked down at the scarf in his hand and then up at Arthur. “This is...this is yours?”

“Yes.” Arthur leaned down and pulled the scarf from Merlin's loose grasp. “It is.”

Merlin knew that he was opening and closing his mouth like a fish, but he really had no control over his actions. Arthur shook his head almost fondly at him and then, unless Merlin was really seeing things, he winked and disappeared into the crowd.

It took Merlin approximately 2 seconds before he followed him.


End file.
